Rajasthan Royals have lost both of their games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 so far and sit at the bottom of the standings. They lost their path in a steep 185-run chase against Kings XI Punjab after the controversial dismissal of Jos Buttler to lose by 14 runs.

They then posted a seemingly massive 199-run target for Sunrisers Hyderabad but failed to defend it successfully as the Hyderabad outfit made light work of the chase with an over to spare.

Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, have won both of their games. They barely broke a sweat in their 7-wicket defeat of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener before another convincing 6-wicket win over Delhi Capitals.

Royals have the odds stacked against them as they take on the Chennai outfit on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the Rajasthan Royals’ predicted XI against Chennai Super Kings as they go head-to-head:

Ajinkya Rahane

The Royals’ skipper has promoted himself to the top of the order this year and the move has been a reasonable success. Rahane scored a 20-ball 27 against KKR and followed it up with a 49- ball 70 in the second match. He will look to continue in the same vein against CSK.

Jos Buttler

Buttler’s Mankading by Ravichandran Ashwin in the Royals’ opener against KXIP was the turning point of the game as they went from cruising at 108/1 to 170/9 in their 20 overs. However, the Englishman failed in the following game.

Sanju Samson

Samson scored the first century of the IPL 2019. He smashed an unconquered 55-ball 102 to take the Royals’ final total within a whisker of 200.

Steve Smith

Smith has returned to the IPL after giving it a miss last term. He hasn’t come good thus far but the Australian’s class and consistency are undoubted. CSK will be a good opposition to get among the runs.

Ben Stokes

Stokes provided some late flourish against SRH with a 9-ball 14, but was very expensive with the ball, giving away 40 runs from his 3 overs. He will need to up his all-round game considerably.

Rahul Tripathi

After failing against KXIP, Tripathy didn’t get a chance to bat in the second match.

Krishnappa Gowtham

Gowtham has had a similar outing to Tripathi’s.

Jofra Archer

One of the most sought-after bowlers in the T20 franchise cricket, Archer registered fantastic figures of 4-0-17-0 against KXIP but was very expensive against SRH, giving away 42 runs from his 4 overs. RR will hope for consistency from their premier bowler.

Jaydev Unadkat

Unadkat has failed to justify the humongous Rs 8.4 crore RR shelled out for his services at last year’s auctions. His poor bowling has ensured that he is yet to bowl his quota of overs in the two games so far. Unadkat needs to improve, drastically and quickly.

Shreyas Gopal

Gopal was the pick of the RR bowlers against SRH, giving away just 27 runs from his 4 overs as every other bowler endured a difficult time in the middle. Gopal also took home three wickets. He will look to continue in the same vein.

Dhawal Kulkarni

Kulkarni had respectable figures of 4-0-30-1 in the KXIP defeat but he was taken for plenty against SRH. The pacer is vastly experienced and RR will hope he brings some of his nous against CSK.

First Published: Mar 31, 2019 14:32 IST